Rating:  Summary: Don't Ever Take Yourself Seriously...if you BELIEVE!!!!!!!!! Review: Aliens. *meep* *meep*!!
Do you believe in saucers? Who needs to? Stephen Coonts is one of those rare authors who doesn't have to take himself seriously. And he's obviously having a good time writing this book. I doubt he knew it would be the hit that it is.
This book has a little bit of that adventurous youth flavor we all wished we could've chanced upon in our past, or at least I did anyway. It's exhilarating to see how the saucer is handled, and some of the technical ideas about it are pretty spiffy.
I dropped off one star because nearly every character in this book is a genius at something. This sort of increases the distance between reader and subject matter. Unless you're a genius, you won't relate that well to these characters. And if you're a genius, you probably won't be reading this book anyway. You'd be finishing translating De Re Metallica from Zimbabwe back into Latin as something to do on a Monday night.
History time: I grew up reading the Jake Grafton novels, but as I grew up, so did my interests and I stopped reading Coonts after The Intruders (skipping The Red Horseman)... and haven't touched him since. Not his fault, I have different tastes. But I couldn't pass up a fun book with such a great title!
SAUCER! ready for blast-off? engage. ph-RROOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Rating:  Summary: Fanciful Review: The "Publishers Weekly" review hit the nail right on the head: this book is "a flight of fancy" and a "cartoonish slice of escapism" that is "more hokey than suspenseful" and more like Clive Cussler than Tom Clancy.
I could hardly say it any better, along with most of the other citizen reviewers on these pages. But if you like the cartoony adventures by Clive Cussler, you'll probably enjoy this book also. This is NOT serious science fiction, nor suspense, nor mystery/thriller (which is where it was shelved at the bookstore); and apparently this style of story is a departure from Coonts' techno-thrillers. Which is a relief to me. This was my first Coonts book and it was terribly disappointing because I was expecting something else. If I had read these reviews first and was expecting a Cussler-esque story, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.
Rating:  Summary: Read something else Review: Yesterday I finished re-reading "Saucer" by Stephen Coonts. It is every bit as infantile and silly as I recalled from my first reading. It is not "bad writing:" it's just pointless and not-worth-reading. It is an intellectual slumber pill; it is mind-pausing escapist literature. One's time could be much better spent reading one of many other books. The book has George W Bush as president of the United States, though he is thinly disguised--- he is as much an incompetent violence-solves-it idiot in the book as well as in real life. The book's science is also pure fantasy of course (well, it is fiction after all!), yet still annoying: one of the characters "discovered" that humans did not evolve on Earth, despite the convincing and conclusive evidence to the contrary.
Rating:  Summary: Stunningly horrid! Review: Honestly, one of the worst stories I've ever read. I just wrote a particularly lengthy and scathing review of this book, but it was accidentally deleted. I don't feel that this story deserves any more of the time it would take me to re-write it. If I could give it less then one star, I would. Just please, please take my advice. Stay away from this book!
Rating:  Summary: Different than any other differences Review: This is my first book I read. Although I am a biggest fan of Dale Brown Novels. Mr.Coonts is a brilliant techno-thriller military writer, This time he has written something different than any other differences. When I read this book, I felt myself flying a saucer from Sahara to my home country within 45 minutes. Amazing story and full of actions. I might get bored if I read a story or fiction which is still stick with regular jet fighters or bombers. But 'Saucer'? Wow this time it's different. I do enjoy to fly the saucer more than just reading. It's my first book from Stephen Coonts, brilliant story. I can't wait for the next sequal novel Saucer: The Conquest.
Rating:  Summary: Saucer Stirs up Global Trouble Review: From the author of military adventure comes a tale of a slightly different ilk. Oil prospectors in the Sahara find a buried artifact that turns out to be a flying saucer about 140,000 years old. Despite this, this novel is not a science fiction novel. Instead it is a military action thriller.News of the saucer leaks. Satellites spot it from orbit. Soon many powerful forces are trying to gain control of the craft. But Rip Cantrell first found the saucer, and with the aid of a test pilot, manage to keep hold of it for a while. The saucer continues to be a focal point for military actions and the action seldom stops. Throughout the book Rip tries to retain ownership of the saucer but it is his feelings for the beautiful test pilot that really puts him at ground zero. A nice and fast-paced tale with a resolution that actually seems to work (although I wonder about the repercussions for the Japanese SDF). Rip is a likeable character but seems to bounce back and forth between country bumpkin (which he is not) and the genius that he really is. The other characters are also well defined and interesting (good guys and bad). All in all I have to recommend this one for fans of military thrillers. Science Fiction fans may also like it but the Saucer is really just a catalyst for the tale.
Rating:  Summary: Just dumb. Plain dumb. Very disappointing. Review: I started reading this with great enthusiasm, envisioning the twists and turns that Coonts could create with the basic premise of an ancient flying saucer found buried in the Saharan sands. And what I got was a screenplay for a summer blockbuster, devoid of any complexity or depth whatsoever. I read the first 30-40 pages, skimmed the next 40, and flipped through the rest of the book before finally abandoning it altogether. Oh well.
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